Costumed And Troublesome
by arisuali
Summary: Shika/Kuro. AU. A masked ball leads to a chance encounter. Rated 'T' for gayness and heavy petting XD Not as cheesy as it sounds, I swear.


**OK, I know that there have been tumbleweeds blowing across my account lately, and I can't apologise enough for that. But I recently got a full-time job which leaves me little time for writing. Plus...I just seem to hate everything I churn out at the moment. Like actually genuinely hate it. So it was kind of a pleasant surprise when I looked through my old crap and found this, which I was actually pretty pleased with :) So I decided to upload it.**

**Please bear in mind that it's not finished! I honestly can't say if it will be, or if so then when, but I thought you might appreciate it (?) despite how irritating its unfinished-ness is XD**

**Anyway, I wrote this because I was reading stuff about what different countries did for New Year's. For America it linked the kiss-at-midnight to masked balls and, because I'm a total Phantom-Of-The-Opera-esque-party whore, my mind-cogs began to whirl. This is an AU fanfic, by the way (it's in the description, but thought I'd mention it again :P) which is new territory for me author-wise, and I also changed my writing style a little bit, so I hope you like it :)**

**Pairings in here (aside from the obvious) include: Gaara/Kiba, Sasuke/Naruto, Lee/Neji, Choji/Ino and Temari/Tenten. So if you're offended by any of those then maybe don't read...? :P Although most of them are implied at best, so perhaps you don't have to worry. ****Oh, and no, I haven't started writing yuri (well, not yet anyway XD). I needed someone to entice Temari away from Shikamaru, and for some reason, I find it very easy to imagine her and Tenten dating...**

**Anyway, shut up Ali.**

**Disclaimer: They're not mine, of course. I lack the imagination for such wonderful characters :D**

* * *

><p>It was, as always, hideously troublesome.<p>

Shikamaru let his head drop back onto the pillows with a sigh.

Six o' clock, Saturday night, and here was Temari – no, correction, there _went _Temari – telling him that she'd met someone else.

Soon after the door shut behind her came the realisation that, although he was supposed to be heartbroken or something similar, he was more annoyed than anything else. What's more, the irritation didn't even stem from their break up. Nope. The source of it was the black velvet he wore, the scarlet mask in his hand and the tickets (well, ticket now, seeing as she had taken one with her) in his pocket.

A masked ball. Of all the damn things. Temari had been all for it, of course. It'd been mostly her insistence that had made him buy the tickets in the first place. That, and the fact that his mother had thought it would be good for him to 'socialise'.

But he didn't _want _to socialise. After being unceremoniously dumped, all he really wanted to do was sleep. Even if he hadn't just been dumped, he'd still rather have slept than go dancing, or whatever it was people did at these things.

Sadly, sleep wasn't an option. As proved five seconds later, when a tornado in the form of his mother swept into the room, gathered him up – mask and all – and pushed him out into the street. Shikamaru just had time to catch his father's shrug of apology before the door slammed shut behind him.

The sigh that escaped his lips was more than heartfelt. Honestly, it was bad enough that these clothes made him look like a period drama reject. Now he didn't even have anyone to go with. This close to the start of the ball, it was too late to find an alternative date. Not that he really wanted one – women were troublesome, this situation just proved that statement further – but it would have been nice to have some form of backup plan.

Scowling darkly at the door to his house, which remained obstinately closed, the Nara shoved his hands in his pockets and began to meander his way along the road to the mansion where the ball was supposed to be taking place. As he kicked at a pebble, sending it skittering off into the darkness, his thoughts turned to his now-ex-girlfriend and their recently nullified relationship.

During the three months that he and Temari had been dating, they'd gone no further than a handful of half-hearted (on his part, at least) kisses. Really, he'd only agreed to go out with her in the first place because it would be less of an effort than explaining why he didn't want to. She was cool and everything, he'd even go so far as to say that he enjoyed her company, but that didn't mean that they should make the leap from friends to boyfriend-and-girlfriend. Especially considering that, really, he wanted nothing to do with girls. Or, at least, not in the aspects he was supposed to.

Choji and Ino knew this, of course – Choji because he was his best friend and Ino because she and Choji were dating and therefore they apparently had to tell each other everything. Not that either of them really cared – it wasn't exactly unusual to have an aversion to girls (Sasuke and Naruto had been dating for years and after the initial disappointed complaints from the Uchiha's many fans everyone had more or less gotten over it) "And besides," Ino had snorted, flicking her fringe about in an exasperating sort of manner, "we'd guessed as much already".

Even so, it didn't always pay to advertise. So, for the moment, Shikamaru was keeping his questionable sexuality to himself. Temari hadn't known, of course, although he sometimes wondered whether she, too, had guessed. For example, she'd been extremely reluctant to introduce him to her two younger brothers – he'd only met Gaara because he'd happened to come in when they'd been watching a film. At the time, the Nara had thought that she was just nervous in case they got overprotective, but with hindsight, it was possible that she'd been more intuitive than he'd given her credit for.

If that had been the case, she needn't have worried. Gaara hadn't been his type – he was good-looking, sure, but he seemed to have a permanent scowl and the combination of thick black eyeliner and intricate-looking tattoo was, frankly, quite off-putting.

As for her other brother...well, that was a moot point, because they'd never been introduced. He always seemed to be out, or shut upstairs in his room. Shikamaru couldn't even remember his name. Didn't it start with a 'K'?

Reaching the door to the mansion and handing his ticket to a surly-looking bouncer, he dismissed the mysterious brother from his mind. It wasn't like he was ever going to meet him now.

The hallway he was directed through was fairly grand, lined with portraits of pompous-looking ancestors in stiff-collared clothes as well as some other beautifully painted works. Shikamaru paused briefly to examine them more closely, but the ticket-man was eyeing him suspiciously so he had to push on, turning the corner into another corridor filled with more gilt frames where the strains of violins were drifting towards him. As he descended a flight of stairs and approached the curtained doorway and the source of the music, the feeling of dread he'd been harbouring ever since he was forced out of the house threatened to overwhelm him. Only the thought of his mother's disapproving glare kept him from turning tail and finding something less taxing to occupy himself with. There was nothing else for it. Taking a deep breath and reaching up to pull his mask over his eyes, Shikamaru ducked through the curtain and stepped into the room beyond.

It was like stepping into the past. Everywhere he looked, girls were sporting embroidered crinoline dresses and boys were wearing velvet and silk adorned with threaded decoration. Of course, everyone was wearing masks, ranging from modest examples cut from plain material to ridiculous extravagance, spouting feathers and beads all over the place. One such excessive mask belonged to Sakura – not that he was looking out for her, she was just impossible to miss – who was standing with Ino and bickering with the blonde over something or other. Next to them was – of course – Choji, already clutching a plate filled with buffet food. Shikamaru allowed himself a wry smile, before he continued his surveillance. There was Kiba, attached to a red-haired boy who looked suspiciously familiar. Upon closer scrutiny he realised with a jolt that it was Gaara. _That _was a surprise, because he'd always assumed that Kiba liked Hinata. From the way they were looking at each other, though, it seemed he'd been very much mistaken.

The sudden appearance of the youngest sibling made him automatically scan the room for the eldest. Luckily she was nowhere to be found. However, he _did _spot Lee, perched on one of the chairs scattered around the edge of the room, looking self-conscious in green velvet as he sipped his drink, completely oblivious to the appreciative stares of the long-haired genius sitting a few feet away.

During this time, the music hadn't stopped. Instead, if anything, it had gotten louder, obviously building to a crescendo of some kind. Shikamaru sighed and resigned himself to an evening of wishing himself elsewhere as he began to make his way towards Choji and Ino, preparing for the unavoidable bombardment of questions about Temari's absence.

Wait. Eyes. There were eyes on him. He could tell from the prickling at the back of his neck. Another casual glance around and he'd spotted his observer.

Sitting in a corner, discreetly distanced from the rest of the crowd, was a boy. That in itself was weird. He was used to getting eyed-up by girls (not that he was vain or anything, he just knew that he was fairly easy on the eye), but he couldn't remember any instance where another guy had shown interest in him. Bizarre. What's more, it wasn't casual sizing-up, either. This guy was flat-out staring at him; he didn't even break his gaze when Shikamaru met his eyes. Dark eyes, to go with the smirk that promised dark things.

All thoughts of meeting his friends forgotten, the Nara changed direction, heading instead for the table where the strange boy was sitting. It was to the other's credit that he didn't look the slightest bit fazed to see Shikamaru coming towards him – in fact, if anything the smirk widened, almost as if he'd been expecting it.

"Hey," was Shikamaru's first comment as he plonked himself down opposite the other. Scanning the figure before him, he noticed that the guy was dressed in an interesting mix of red and black, with purple paint decorating the parts of his face not hidden by the black mask. It was slightly out there, something that would immediately attract attention. He'd certainly got Shikamaru's attention, anyway.

"Yo," came the reply, accompanied with a wide smirk as eyes roved over his body. "I wondered if you'd come over."

"What else was I going to do?" Shikamaru shrugged, not letting on that his heart was hammering. "You were staring. I wondered what you wanted."

Painted lips curved further up. That grin was looking more suggestive by the second. "Really? You wondered?"

The other blushed. He wasn't used to conversations like this. Not at all. "Yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong, but people don't usually stare at you like that unless they want something."

"Well, I was bored," the mystery boy said, with an almost imperceptible stretch that tightened the criss-crossing thread holding the neck of his shirt together. "You seemed interesting."

"How so?" Shikamaru asked casually, pulse quickening further.

"You looked how I felt," the guy said simply, turning his eyes to the cup in his hand and looking surprised to find it there. "Drink?"

"No thanks."

"Food?"

"Not hungry."

"What's your name?"

"Who wants to know?"

A wide grin. "I'm Kankuro. Pleased to meet you."

"Shikamaru. And likewise."

Kankuro leaned in closer, until Shikamaru could see that his eyes were a mixture of deep brown and dark green, like a forest floor. "You wanna get out of here, Shikamaru?"

He didn't have to think twice. "Sure."

"Come on then." The Nara took the hand offered and they made their way through the crowd, ducking through a doorway at the far end of the room. Pushing through another door, cool air hit them and Shikamaru found himself at the entrance to a maze-like garden.

"There's a bench further in," Kankuro told him with a gentle tug in the direction he was pointing. Soon the light and noise of the party was lost, replaced by crickets and rustling leaves. It was like another world, made all the more surreal by the fact that they were still holding hands.

The bench appeared. They sat on it. And Shikamaru wondered what would happen next.

"So...what are you doing here?" Startled by the question, he found himself answering honestly.

"My girlfriend wanted to go." A flash of disappointment crossed the other's face. "But she dumped me just before."

"Bummer," Kankuro said, smile back in place. "Sorry about that." Yeah right. He didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

"And you?"

The grin twisted, taking on a vaguely long-suffering air. "My sister needed a chaperone. God knows why though. She just pushed off with her girlfriend the moment we got here."

"Nice of her."

Kankuro seemed pleased that Shikamaru hadn't been bothered by the slightly unconventional 'girlfriend' in that statement. Well, it'd be a bit hypocritical if he had. "Yeah. She can be a thoughtless cow sometimes."

"Sounds like my ex," the Nara mused, returning the grin. A relaxed silence followed as they smiled at each other. This was nice. It had been a while since he'd been this intrigued by someone – if he ever had. The older (well, Shikamaru assumed his was older, he looked and acted like it, that was for sure) boy had a presence about him, something that commanded attention and kept it. Like the make-up, it marked him out.

"You seem like a cool guy," Kankuro was telling him now, eyes glinting with conspiracy again. "I like you."

"Likewise," Shikamaru smirked, leaning forward subtly and raising his eyebrows in invitation. The other's smile widened and hands crept to his ponytail, releasing the black ribbon holding it up. Surprised, he opened his mouth to speak, but whatever words he'd been about to say were lost as Kankuro closed the meagre distance between them and kissed him.

And of course, his brain would choose this precise moment to realise exactly how troublesome the situation had become. Here he was, in the dark, making out with some guy he didn't even know, less than an hour after his girlfriend had broken up with him. It screamed rebound, even though he knew it wasn't. Plus it was totally out of character. But then...well, Kankuro's mouth was nice, he was a damn good kisser, and he was winding strands of his hair around long fingers. His other hand was sliding down Shikamaru's neck, underneath the collar of the over-starched shirt, trailing along his chest. Instead of reciprocating in a similar manner, it seemed like the only thing he could do was to grasp two handfuls of dark brown hair, crushing their lips together as a hot tongue forced its way into his mouth.

A sound from the left made him half open his eyes in annoyance at the potential interruption, and what he saw stunned him enough to make him pull away from the other boy.

Temari was there, staring at them, hand in hand with a _girl_ who looked like she didn't have the faintest idea what was going on.

"Oh, hey sis," Kankuro said casually, rubbing his lips and looking slightly taken aback when his fingers came away stained purple.

_What?_

Shikamaru's gazed returned to the older boy, vague horror in his expression.

"Shikamaru..." At least Temari had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I didn't expect to find you here..."

He didn't ask whether she meant outside or at the ball in the first place. For some reason, his vocal chords weren't working properly. And now Kankuro was looking at him with the same expression that he himself had worn a few seconds ago.

"This is Tenten," she went on, gesturing at the girl behind her, who smiled politely, still with an air of confusion. "I see you've...erm...met my brother."

"You could say that," Shikamaru muttered, reluctant to meet Kankuro's eyes.

"Well...we'd better get going...Kankuro, you're on in five, OK?"

Taking the responding mumble as an affirmative, she left, dragging Tenten behind her.

Shikamaru was the first to break the silence.

"You're her brother," he said wearily, removing his mask so that he could rub his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. What had started off as troublesome was now descending into downright chaotic.

"And you're her boyfriend." Kankuro sounded as shell-shocked as he felt.

"_Ex_-boyfriend," he corrected, not that it made it much better. "And it was pretty much one-sided. Or possibly not sided at all." Because whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been the sudden revelation that his ex-girlfriend was gay too.

Kankuro let out a weak laugh, getting to his feet and running a hand through his hair. "Shit...this is complicated."

"You're telling me."

The smile he received was grateful, but mostly the painted boy just looked sad. "Well, you heard what she said. I'm on in five. I'd better go."

Before Shikamaru could ask what he meant, he'd disappeared back into the trees, leaving the Nara behind to collect his thoughts, straighten his clothes, retie his hair and bask in disappointment.

"Shika? What are you doing out here?"

Honestly, it was couple city in this garden tonight. Kiba and Gaara stood in front of him, holding hands and with matching perplexed expressions.

"I got lost," Shikamaru lied lamely, reaching up to smooth his ponytail.

"Oh. Well, the house is back that way." Kiba jerked a thumb back in the direction they'd come from, before pausing and leaning closer to scrutinise the other's face. "Hey, what have you been eating? There's purple all round your mouth. Is it from the punch or something?"

At these words, Shikamaru managed to catch Gaara's eye, and the redhead shot him an amused look that told him he'd figured out the entire situation.

"Kankuro's band is playing in a minute," he told the Nara in his unnervingly husky voice. "If you're quick, you might make it in time."

"Thanks," Shikamaru said hurriedly, absentmindedly scrubbing his lips with his sleeve as he almost ran back towards the house, the party and Kankuro.

When he arrived, everyone was clustered around the stage, where the red-and-black-clad boy was standing, resplendent, in the light from a hastily-rigged spotlight overhead.

"OK, here we go," Kankuro said into the mic, strumming a chord before the band launched into a fast-paced cover of a song Shikamaru vaguely recognised. He settled into a seat at the back of the room, wondering what the hell he was going to do, as Kankuro's voice filled the room. Head jerking up at the sound, his gaze returned to the stage and he realised that the older boy was looking right at him.

"_I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas, please, fold 'em, let 'em hit me, raise it baby, stay with me..._"

His first thought was that it was a little weird to have a rock band at a masked ball, but his second thought was simply of hazel eyes and warm lips which rendered all reasoning redundant. The velvet voice left him absolutely spellbound, the rest of the set passed in a haze, and before he knew it Kankuro was saying "This is the last song we're gonna do, and it's a slow one, so everyone grab a victim, 'kay?"

Everyone laughed and there was scrambling to find a suitable partner as the acoustic guitar began, and then the vocals kicked in and sucked all the damn air out of the room.

"_Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can't help falling in love with you..._"

Shikamaru almost snorted aloud at the cliché, but then dark eyes met his, his heart stopped and all he knew was that he had to get away. Right now.

Springing to his feet, he moved as fast as he could towards the exit, hearing Kankuro's voice falter ever so slightly as he did so. That small uncertainty was almost enough to make him stay, but the reminder that this guy was his ex-girlfriend's brother meant that his survival instincts kicked back in and he picked up his already frantic pace.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he almost fell flat onto his face as he tripped over a couple entwined on the stairs.

"Ah! Shikamaru-kun! I am sorry!"

Turning, he briefly registered a very mussed-looking Lee and a pale and unimpressed glare daring him to say anything. Mumbling an apology, he bolted up the remainder of the steps, along the corridor and through the front door. He didn't stop until he'd thrown open the front door of his house, sprung past his startled parents and slammed his bedroom door behind him. Leaning against it, breath coming in gasps, he closed his eyes and tried in vain to clear his thoughts of implicating eyes as the inevitable knocking and questioning began.

One week later and Shikamaru was hanging out with Temari. There had been a tentative phone call the evening after the party, during which the involvement of Tenten had been illuminated along with a sketchy explanation of what had happened and why.

The reached conclusion that they were far better off as friends was a shared one, and after they'd both respectively come out to each other it was almost like being back to normal, except without the pressure to act like a couple. Which was a vast improvement, however you looked at it.

In other news, Lee still couldn't look him in the eye and Neji was shooting him death glares, but from what he'd gathered (via Temari – she was once again his own personal gossip column – and originally from Tenten, who was good friends with both of them) they were talking things over and were 'on the verge of having hot rampant sex', as she put it. The Nara had also been told that Gaara and Kiba had hooked up at the ball and hadn't spent more than five minutes apart since.

Romance was practically dancing in the streets. When it was this hard to ignore, Shikamaru was grateful to Temari for not mentioning the subject of Kankuro. However, at the same time, he wanted to ask how things were going, how the musician had been acting and whether there was a chance in hell that Kankuro would consider dating him, as he'd been thinking about him pretty much non-stop. This was way beyond troublesome now and well into the realms of ridiculous. Even more so when you considered that they'd only spent an hour together, tops, and during that time Kankuro hadn't removed his mask. Some people would consider this extremely romantic and mysterious, but Shikamaru just found it annoying. Because he was now officially fucking obsessed with brown eyes and soft lips and the idea of spending any more time without those things didn't even bear thinking about.

It was for this slightly desperate reason that he'd asked whether they could hang out today, although Temari didn't know it.

"I know you're going to ask me about my brother, Shikamaru. You're about as subtle as a hammer."

...Or maybe she did.

"Has he said anything about me?" the Nara asked, aiming for casual but overshooting the mark, judging by the withering look his ex-girlfriend gave him.

"He hasn't said anything at all."

At these words, his stomach dropped several feet in disappointment.

"What...nothing?" And yet he still felt the urge to clarify. "Even a passing comment or something?"

Temari actually snorted at this. "Jesus, you are so obsessed it's untrue."

"I'm not obsessed!" Shikamaru snapped. "Just answer the damn question, will you?"

"_Like I told you_," (and here she had the gall to yawn as she deliberately enunciated each word) "he hasn't said a word to anyone about anything. He just stays in his room listening to thrash metal all day. Occasionally he leaves but I have no idea where he goes. I could give you a rundown on his eating habits and inside leg measurement if you'd like more details."

It was probably best to ignore this last snarky comment. Even if he was actually quite interested in the inside leg measurement.

"Does he pick up a lot of guys?" he found himself asking, realising as soon as the words had left his mouth that he really didn't want to know.

"Honestly?" Temari shot him an appraising glance, which didn't bode well. "Yeah. Quite a few. But he doesn't keep them very long because he has the attention span of a flea. Usually he just plays the 'I'm a musician' card, makes out with them and then never bothers with them again. Either he's looking for something specific or he's a huge man-slut – I can't decide which."

"Oh." It was about all Shikamaru could manage, as his stomach fell further, settling in some unknown spot about his person. _Idiot._ _See? You don't know anything about him. He's not like you – doing stuff like that is normal for him._

"I'm sorry, Shika." And it sounded like she meant it. "But at least you had a lucky escape. He's not long-term material, believe me."

The Nara just shrugged, like he couldn't care less, not letting on that he would have gladly settled for short-term over nothing at all.

Another week passed, and this one felt about a year long. It seemed like Kankuro was persistent, at least in memory, because he was slowly taking over Shikamaru's mind. Which was not only extremely annoying and invasive but also very distracting.

It wasn't even like he'd been stewing in his thoughts at home. He'd been out with Temari a couple of times, both of them carefully skirting around the issue, seen Kiba long enough to be certain that whatever he and Gaara had going on was certainly something to marvel at, and Choji and Ino had taken him out for lunch, during which he'd eaten very little (it inspired mixed emotions in his best friend – he was worried, of course, but the extra food had been more than welcome).

God, he was turning into one of those useless, soppy women in fairytales, pining away for the handsome prince.

Although this was a slightly unconventional prince, considering that he was the lead singer of a rock band who sung about deception with bakery products, and on top of that the way he'd kissed certainly wasn't kid-friendly.

_Don't remember the kiss..._

He'd be able to get over everything else, he was sure, if it wasn't for that damn kiss.

The doorbell cut through his reflections, and he waited for the inevitable sound of his mother screeching at either him or his father to answer it. It didn't come, but the buzzing repeated itself and he remembered that it was his parents anniversary, so they'd most likely gone out somewhere. Which meant that he would have to get up.

Snorting in distaste, he rolled himself off the bed, meandering his way to the hallway. Whoever it was, he really didn't feel like company at the moment.

Pulling open the door, his eyes fell on a tall boy, probably a year or two older than he was and a few inches taller. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and was just about to ask "Can I help you?" in a tone that suggested that he wouldn't, when he happened to glance at the other's eyes, deep brown with hints of green, and he suddenly realised exactly who he was looking at.

His customary exasperated expression slipped, and had it been physical it would have dropped to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. It might as well have done – the shock felt similar to destruction on a huge scale.

"Er...hi," Kankuro said, nervously scrubbing at dark hair with newly-acquired purple streaks, and whatever reaction he'd been expecting, it probably wasn't to have the door slammed brusquely in his face.

Behind the safe barricade of the wood, the Nara leaned his forehead against the cool wallpaper, concentrating on getting his pulse back under control. Kankuro was here. _Kankuro _was _here_. Why was Kankuro here?

"What are you doing here?" he called through the door, unwilling to open it again in case he lost his breath and his mind as well.

"Well, I _did_ come to see you," came the reply, and he was surprised to hear an amused tone in it. "But apparently you prefer to conduct your business through closed doors."

Urgh, he didn't even _need _to see him. Just the sound of the musician's voice was enough to make him feel unsteady. Taking a deep breath, he managed to straighten up, compose his features back into an apathetic expression and turn the handle to reveal a knowing grin.

"How did you know where I live?" was the next question he asked, and he was surprised to see Kankuro's smirk turn a little sheepish round the edges as he answered.

"Temari told me."

Shikamaru nodded slowly, pretending to be processing this information when in reality his eyes were roving over the figure in front of him – an assessment seemed in order as this was the first time he'd seen it unmasked and in daylight. First impressions were...not bad. The other boy was pretty damn good-looking, actually, and there was that smile, of course, the one that was currently doing dangerous things to his stomach. He was nice and tall as well, a trait that hadn't been important before but now was. Definitely.

"Are you going to let me in?" he asked now, raising an eyebrow. "Or would you prefer to keep eyeing me up on the doorstep? I could take my shirt off if it'd make it easier." And he actually started to lift the bottom of his black T-shirt, revealing several centimetres of toned, tanned skin. The impending threat of public indecency (because much more of that and Shikamaru would probably have ripped his jeans off as well) was enough for the younger boy to tug him inside violently, slamming the door behind them.

"Wow." The famous smirk intensified. "Forceful."

"Shut up," Shikamaru muttered, blushing uncharacteristically. For want of any better ideas, he wordlessly led the way to his room, Kankuro following, looking around him with interest. Upon reaching their destination, the Nara sat on the bed, while his uninvited guest went straight to the books lined up on his shelf, apparently intrigued.

"Kankuro," Shikamaru said quietly, when the silence became too much. "What are you doing here?"

Although the other had his back to him, the rise and fall of his shoulders was obvious as he sighed, carefully replacing the copy of Hamlet he'd been leafing through. Their eyes met, and the intensity was both surprising and unexpected.

"I'm not really sure." He laughed a little awkwardly, before continuing. "You've been on my mind a lot. I guess I wanted to see you again. Like I said before, you're interesting."

Well, _that _was disarming. Shikamaru hadn't been expecting him to admit to thinking about him. However, he still hadn't forgotten what Temari had told him.

"Listen," he yawned, keeping his demeanour deliberately blasé, "I'm not stupid and I'm certainly not some easy fuck. You're not the type for a relationship, and I'm not interested in a quick screw. So you might as well just go."

To his incredulity, Kankuro actually smiled, a genuine smile without a hint of self-satisfaction. "I see my sister's warned you off. Did the words 'huge man-slut' happen to come up, by any chance?"

"They were mentioned," Shikamaru admitted as the older boy settled down on the mattress next to him. It had only just registered that the close proximity might be a bad idea when fingers brushed against the back of his neck, hot breath expelling against his skin.

"I don't screw around, Shika." Kankuro's voice was low, gravelly, sending trembles of anticipation down his spine. "I won't deny that I get off with a lot of guys – and girls for that matter – but I'm not a slut. I wouldn't do something like this unless I was _intensely interested_..." These last two words were whispered right into his ear, accompanied with a brief flick of a tongue, and the Nara bit his lip to hold back the moan that threatened to escape. He could have pushed Kankuro off, he supposed, maybe beaten him up a little before throwing him out, but it seemed like it would be less effort to just turn his head and capture those lips with his own.

_God_, it was the taste he remembered. The taste and the heat. Combined it was like some sort of exquisite torture. He shifted a little closer, and that seemed to be the indicator Kankuro was waiting for, because the pressure of the kiss increased and his lips were parted by the other's tongue, which proceeded to caress his in a way that made him feel slightly weak at the knees. Lucky he was already sitting down, really.

Then fingers were moving down his arm, slipping underneath the hem of his shirt, coming to rest on his hip, thumb stroking the skin briefly before continuing upwards to his chest, brushing over an already-hard nipple. That was nothing if not distracting, but it was incredibly hot at well. The motion was repeated, and the gasp it produced wasn't as embarrassing as he'd feared it would be.

Kankuro managed to manoeuvre so that they were lying on the bed, the older straddling the younger, and in _this _position Shikamaru could _feel _exactly how much the situation was affecting both of them. Raising his arms obediently so that his T-shirt could be tugged over his head, the thought that maybe they should slow down a little crossed his mind briefly, before the brunette's mouth chased it away, struggling out of his own shirt and throwing it somewhere indiscriminate.

An insistent noise made them both jump; the pocket of Kankuro's jeans began to vibrate and OK, Shikamaru was no expert, but he was fairly sure that _that _wasn't normal. The older boy swore as the buzzing turned into a pounding beat, and there was just time for Shikamaru to hear the words "_Evacuate the d–_" before Kankuro retrieved his phone, flipped it open and hissed "_What?_" into the receiver in a voice that could freeze blood. The Nara certainly didn't envy whoever was on the other end of the line.

"He is? OK...OK...give me a minute...I'll be right there." The brunette snapped the phone shut again, turning to Shikamaru with an agonised expression on his face.

"You have to go," the younger boy stated, keeping his voice as steady as he could.

"Yeah," Kankuro replied shortly. "I'm sorry. It's...kind of an emergency."

"Don't worry about it." Good job his mouth didn't seem to be connected with his brain, which was screaming for them to continue what they'd started (as were other parts of his anatomy). "I'll see you around sometime."

Kankuro stared at him for a long minute, swore again and all but ran out of the room, grabbing his discarded shirt on the way. Shikamaru listened for the sound of the front door slamming and when it came, allowed himself to lean back on the bed, closing his eyes.

_Fuck_.

Obviously that was some sort of sign.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it ^^<strong>

**Yeah, even taking its unfinished-ness into account, it's still considerably longer than I usually do...weird...took me fracking ages to write as well coz I kept losing my thread and then regaining it randomly for a few paragraphs at a time (if I was lucky). So if the writing seems a little disjointed, that's why. **

**By the way, the songs Kankuro sings are _Poker Face_ by Lady GaGa – which he is doing in the style of You Me At Six (ha) and _Can't Help Falling In Love _by Elvis Presley. I have an extensive taste in music XD**

**Plus for anyone who cares, yes, his ringtone is _Evacuate The Dancefloor_ by Cascada.**

**Please review, I'm hoping that it will kick-start my writing again if people actually like this :) And then I might be able to write the second half. Which will probably be from Kankuro's perspective, if you're interested ;) Review. REVIEW. DO IT. But don't feel like I'm pressuring you or anything :P**


End file.
